OUR PARTNERS
Partnerships, Collaborations and Recognition
SSM does not work alone. Over nine years, the organisation has built a network of institutional relationships that spans traditional authority, national government, vocational education, international diplomacy, and development funding. These are not courtesy associations. They are working relationships, many formalised in signed agreements, through which real programme delivery happens.
ALL PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS
Royal Patronage and the Royal Heritage Trust
Royal Patronage was formally conferred by Their Majesties King Letsie III and Queen 'Masenate Mohato Seeiso on 20 May 2023, before 350 guests including the Minister of Trade and Tourism. An endorsement letter from Monehela Posholi, Senior Private Secretary to His Majesty, was issued in July 2021. SSM is a founding member of the Royal Heritage Trust, registered February 2025, which provides legal custodianship of royal heritage properties in the Makhoarane region. The Trust's first designated properties are at Makeneng Royal Village. Morena Seeiso B. Seeiso, Principal Chief of Matsieng and brother to His Majesty the King, chairs both the Trust and SSM's Governing Council.
The Founding Institutions
SSM grew out of a collaboration between two heritage institutions that remain central to its work. Morija Museum and Archives and the Royal Archives and Museum at Matsieng were the two founding institutions of the SSM initiative from 2014, and both are core institutional members of the Network today.
Government of Lesotho
Three ministries are formally engaged with SSM. The Ministry of Development Planning funded the Feasibility Study completed in 2019. The SSM project was adopted by the Public Sector Investment Committee in 2017. The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture attended the official launch and maintains an active working relationship. The Ministry of Local Government, Chieftainship and Parliamentary Affairs is engaged on matters of physical planning and governance.
Lerotholi Polytechnic College
A formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed in October 2024. Both institutions are committed to partnership in the implementation of quality heritage management through restoration, conservation, and re-purposing of key national heritage structures at Makeneng, Morija, and other sites in the greater Makhoarane area, in order to promote sustainable and responsible tourism with inclusive growth and investment in the region.
Selimela Learning Network
A formal Memorandum of Understanding governs collaboration on educational programmes, including distribution and use of heritage learning materials in schools across the Makhoarane area.
Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation and Lesotho Council of Tourism
Through its partnership with the LTDC, SSM has certified 38 rural women as homestay operators and trained over 120 community heritage guides to national certification standards. The Lesotho Council of Tourism provides industry regulation and standards frameworks within which SSM's tourism programmes operate.
RISE International
A four-year active collaboration. RISE, led by Daniela Gusman, Founder, Executive Director, and Honorary Consul of Malta in Lesotho, coordinated the Italian Embassy funding that made the 2022 Built Environment and Heritage Conservation Masterclass at Makeneng Royal Village possible. The masterclass brought conservation architects from Cape Town to work alongside local stone masons, thatchers, and community members on the emergency stabilisation of three historic structures.
Selibeng Sa Thuto Trust
SSM's most consistent funding partner, working with the organisation since 2018. Selibeng Sa Thuto Trust provided foundational support for SSM's capacity building and governance development, and has funded multiple concurrent projects every year since, including five concurrent projects in 2025. Anthony Maeder, Director, has described SSM's financial stewardship as exemplary throughout the partnership.
Healthy Minds Advocacy
Programme partner on the Empowering Sesotho Expression project, which delivered a 10-session Sesotho literacy curriculum across four primary schools in the Makhoarane area. Students produced and launched an original published booklet of poems and folklore.
Mophato oa Morija Youth Conference Centre
A signed collaboration agreement provides SSM with access to conference facilities, accommodation for up to 80 participants, workshop spaces, and logistical coordination for heritage programmes and visiting international participants. Mophato oa Morija has operated in the cultural heartland of Morija since 1956.
Makeneng Royal Village
A signed collaboration agreement with the Chief of Makeneng, Ramahanta Lerotholi, provides SSM with access to the Pitso Ground as a performance and public gathering space at no cost.
Hear My Voice, South Africa
A three-year Memorandum of Understanding, in progress as of 2024, covering artistic exchanges, cultural heritage initiatives, tourism programmes, and poetry projects exploring mother tongue literature and traditional oral expression.
Athabasca University, Canada
Through the Government of Canada Global Exchange Programme, nine students from Architecture, Computer Science, and Heritage visited Makeneng in November 2023 and 2024, collaborating directly with Basotho artists, musicians, and community members on digital heritage documentation and community engagement.
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Virtual workshops in 2021 with graduate students and supervising professors, delivered through the RISE partnership, enhanced the technical capabilities of SSM's Built Environment team in international conservation standards.
PGS Heritage, South Africa
Technical partner for archaeological survey and ground-penetrating radar work at Makeneng Royal Village. The survey has identified more than 40 structures on the site, providing the evidentiary base for conservation and interpretation planning.
Embassy of France, South Africa
In February 2024, SSM delivered a two-hour workshop to more than 300 international heritage professionals at a convening hosted by the Embassy of France in Cape Town, establishing SSM's presence in international heritage networks and demonstrating its capacity for thought leadership on digital documentation and community-based conservation.
These partnerships are not decorative. They are the operational infrastructure through which SSM delivers. Every programme listed under Our Work was made possible by one or more of the relationships documented here.